Aarja Apparel Company launched the first concept store of its premier hand-woven brand Khadder, in Kolkata. This time their strategy revolves around entering the mindset of its customers rather than mindless expansion across the urban landscape of this country. Talking about their downturn Ruma Shroff Datta, Brand-Owner, Khadder said “We did lose some foreign business in the form of export contracts and had to renege our contract with Canadian retailer Hudson Bay Company. Apart from this we closed down our small format shops in Jaipur, Gurgaon and Kolkata as they were not economically viable anymore.”
The Concept Store at City Centre II will house a host of natural apparel, linen, stationary and furniture, which are typically green, eco-friendly and most importantly handmade. “The idea is not to open 100 stores across the country’s urban paradigm. The immediate expansion plan is to create an institutional model for popularising handloom and its inherent strengths among institutions and corporate by targeting their consumption patterns. The first handloom heritage store is being targeted in either Kolkata or Bangalore,” said Arup Datta, Co-Founder, Khadder.